Those who live here said the noise from first responders initially alerted them.

"I believe one of the newsmen told me it was a female in her basement that had been killed," said Rappin. "And I know her bedrooms are all down in her basement."

Seattle police came to the woman's house to do a welfare check just after 10 a.m. Monday.
When they arrived, they could see smoke. So they called the Seattle Fire Department.

"We saw about six or seven firetrucks kind of pass by, which made us a little nervous," said Robert Castaneda.

Castaneda was working at a local State Farm office with a bird's-eye view of the scene.

"So we turned around, looked out in the back -- we have a little back patio," he said,
"and noticed there was little bit of smoke coming out from the house. Then, all of a sudden, we heard a lot of units, Seattle PD units, come through."

By the time Chopper 7 was overhead, Seattle police said, they knew there was a body in the house.

"Once we were able to make sure there's no one else in the house, then we back off. We protect the scene and we wait for a search warrant,” said Detective Mark Jamieson, of the Seattle Police Department.

Residents along the street are stunned.

"It's just tragic," Annik Stahl. "I can't believe it. I hope they find out what happens."

One eyewitness revealed two things the police would not confirm: that the victim was stabbed and that a neighbor may have had something to do with it.

After 5 p.m., relatives confirmed the victim is Jennifer Ayers, a single mother.